Thanks for dropping by my corner of the internet; grab a chair and sit a spell. I have all sorts of things to share. Things I struggle with like fibromyalgia, my son’s learning disabilities and trying not to gain back lost weight. Things that make up my work like homeschooling, feeding my family and volunteering. Things I do for fun like biking, gardening and reading. Things I think about like politics and how to make the world a better place. All sorts of things that spark my desire to write.

Friday, March 28, 2014

It's Time to Garden!

Actually, it's a little past time to start my garden, but whatever. My philosophy is throw it in the ground and see what happens, and that's just what I've done. I have 7 cherry tomato plants going (the only kind I have any luck with), 5 kale plants, 2 collard plants plus some collard seeds I planted just today, 2 green bean seedlings plus 2 different kinds of green beans I planted today as well, and a few onion sprouty things. And some marigolds to keep the tomatoes company. Pretty good for the little tiny plot I have in my little tiny backyard, I think!

So far I've lost one collard seedling, several of the onion sprouts, (I planted about 6 or 7), and a bunch of the green bean seeds when a critter dug them up. (Which is why I only have 2 green bean seedlings; there should have been more!!) The tomatoes, kale, and collards were all seedlings purchased from Home Depot. The onions weren't seedlings; they were in a dried bunch. I don't have much experience with bulbs, but I'm guessing that's what they were. I had about 6 to 8 each of the kale and collard seedlings but I took way too long to get them in the ground so I was lucky any of them survived! I didn't have room for all of them by a long shot, but of the ones I planted I am shocked I only lost one, and the survivors look great! We can harvest from them right now but only a few leaves so I'm leaving them alone for a bit longer. They are both such hardy plants, and tasty, too! They grow like crazy; we'll be over run with kale in a few more weeks. The 2 collard plants might not be enough; I'm hoping the seeds I put in the ground today will sprout for me. We'll see!

I love growing my own food; I wish we had a bigger back yard so I could get a larger garden going, but this one is a great learning experience. I've learned a few things over the past several years of gardening that have made my previously black thumb a little greenish, things like you can't plant tomatoes in the same spot 2 years in a row; the dead leaves falling off the trees in my neighborhood make a great mulch; I can't grow large tomatoes to save my life, or lettuce, or spinach; tomato hornworms and cabbage worms are all horrid little creatures; and most importantly, home grown food is the absolute best!!